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Venezuela Security Forces Fire on Protesters Near Brazil Border At Venezuela’s Border, a Strange and Deadly Showdown Over Aid
(30 minutes later)
CARACAS, Venezuela — The political showdown convulsing Venezuela escalated into deadly violence near the border with Brazil on Friday, as security forces fired on a group of indigenous Venezuelans protesting the government’s vow to block aid deliveries from outside the country. CÚCUTA, Colombia — The political showdown over the delivery of aid to Venezuela turned deadly Friday when its security forces fired on protesters near the country’s Brazilian border, killing two and wounding a dozen in a confrontation that could signal a more violent and destabilizing struggle over who can claim to be the country’s legitimate leader.
Witnesses and local officials reported the confrontation a day after President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, facing the biggest challenge of his political career, ordered all crossings at the Brazil border closed. A critical moment loomed on Saturday, when Venezuela’s opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, vowed to deliver tons of donated humanitarian aid from abroad, against the orders of President Nicolás Maduro.
At least two civilians were killed and more than a dozen wounded in the confrontation with security forces in the Gran Sabana area, along Venezuela’s southeast border with Brazil, according to Américo de Grazia, an opposition lawmaker from the state of Bolívar. The Gran Sabana area is inhabited by the Pemón, an indigenous community. The protesters killed on Friday, members of the Pemón indigenous group, opposed Mr. Maduro’s decision, saying the population needs the food and medication. They were shot after closing a road to prevent security forces from passing. Outraged fellow protesters were reported to have seized a Venezuela National Guard commander and his deputies in retaliation.
Mr. de Grazia and another opposition lawmaker, Olivia Lozano, said that the head of the Bolívar state’s National Guard force, Gen. José Miguel Montoya Ramirez, along with a handful of his deputies, were seized by indigenous leaders after the confrontation. The bloodshed came as the presidents of Chile, Colombia and Paraguay flew to the Colombian border city of Cúcuta in a display of anti-Maduro resolve — and were joined by Mr. Guaidó, who defied a travel ban. Crowds converged in the town, where tons of aid have been stockpiled, cheering Latino pop stars in a pro-Guaidó show arranged by Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur.
The lawmakers said in interviews that it was unclear how long the indigenous leaders intended to detain the general and his deputies. In the history of border standoffs, the one shaping up on the edges of Venezuela has turned into a particularly combustible mix of political theatrics and deadly risks.
There was no confirmation of the detentions from Venezuela’s military authorities. But if confirmed, they would constitute a major complication in what already is a tense situation. “We are going to see if they will attack people in a peaceful protest, or if they will open the door to this aid,” said Darío Ramírez, a Venezuelan city councilman who fled to Panamá five years ago and came to Cúcuta with other opposition activists. They intended to accompany the aid shipment into Venezuela over the Tienditas Bridge, which Mr. Maduro’s forces have blocked with tanker trucks.
Ms. Lozano said indigenous members and security forces clashed in several areas in the state as civilians sought to impede the troops from erecting road checkpoints and blockades. The troops responded with live ammunition and volleys of tear gas, said Ms. Lozano, who was monitoring the situation from Bolivar, which she represents. “We’re in an epic battle,” she said. In recent weeks, it has become clear that the standoff at the border is about much more than food and medicine.
“The indigenous people have rocks, sticks, arrows,” Ms. Lozano said. “It’s all they have.” The opposition sees a chance to break through Mr. Maduro’s blockade on the shipments, establishing Mr. Guaidó, who they and more than 50 other countries call Venezuela’s legitimate president, as the one who can provide the country food.
The Venezuelans were protesting the government’s decision to halt all unauthorized imports of emergency food and medical aid into Venezuela, which is suffering increasingly severe shortages. The opposition has vowed to deliver tons of donated humanitarian aid on Saturday, even against Mr. Maduro’s orders. President Trump said he views this moment as the “the twilight hour of socialism” in the hemisphere, a turning point where the Venezuelan military would abandon its president and hand Mr. Trump a foreign policy victory.
Ricardo Delgado, a Pemón leader, said the tensions that led to the confrontation began in the predawn hours when a convoy from the Army and the National Guard attempted to reach a checkpoint on the border to help protect it. A group of indigenous protesters blocked their passage, because they want the aid to come in. Mr. Maduro sees the pretext for a foreign invasion, which led him to shut the borders to Brazil and the Caribbean island of Curacao while calling the aid shipment a Trojan horse meant to destabilize him.
And Venezuelans, who have suffered from years of deadly shortages of food and medicine, wonder if this is the end of the crisis that has engulfed their country — or the start of a bigger, perhaps more violent, struggle that would begin on the border.
“We are tired,” said Jesús Sánchez, a 26-year-old who left the Venezuelan port town of Puerto Cabello and said he would march with the aid on Saturday against Mr. Maduro. “If he goes against us, who are coming disarmed, it is going to get ugly.”
The morning began with C-17 military planes revving up in the United States to complete a last airlift of supplies to the border, followed by the arrival of Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams. As the day progressed, a string of Latin American leaders landed at Cúcuta’s airport as well.
“They must put themselves on the right side of history, for the good of the people,” said President Iván Duque of Colombia, referring to the Venezuelan soldiers blocking the aid on the other side of the bridge. “To get in the way of aid is a crime against humanity.”
Yet the international pressure only left Mr. Maduro digging in and laying blame on Mr. Trump. “The people of Venezuela are saying: ‘Trump, hands off Venezuela!’” he wrote on Twitter.
Near the Tienditas Bridge, which links Colombia and Venezuela and where much of the aid sat in a warehouse, a crowd of many thousands came to the concert organized by Mr. Branson. Part Latin pop spectacle, part political protest, the event quickly became a stage where artists and concertgoers took the microphone to air their grievances against Mr. Maduro.
“I came because they’ve destroyed my country,” said María Alejandra Machado Méndez, a 29-year-old teacher from Venezuela, as she stood listening to the singers, which included Maluma and Luis Fonsi. “There’s nothing left for us because they’ve robbed it all. I want to tell my students in the future that I came out to fight.”
Despite an international travel ban imposed on Mr. Guaidó by the Venezuelan authorities after he proclaimed himself president last month, he attended the concert and was photographed standing with the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay as fans cheered.
It was unclear whether Mr. Maduro would order border authorities to prevent Mr. Guaidó from re-entering Venezuela or have him arrested if he sought to return.
Activists said that they were asking concert goers to remain at the bridge to pack supplies through the night in preparation for the attempted crossing on Saturday. A priest would be on hand to pray with the activists for a safe journey, said Víctor Julio Barboza, who coordinated aid at a small camp set up beside the bridge.
“The idea is people will stay till the early morning hours and walk with the humanitarian aid,” said Mr. Barboza.
Yet the confrontation in Brazil had already cast a shadow over the upcoming events.
Ricardo Delgado, a leader of the Pemón indigenous group near the Brazilian border, said the tensions began in the predawn hours when a convoy from the Army and the National Guard attempted to reach a checkpoint on the border. A group of indigenous protesters blocked their passage, because they want the aid to come in.
Mr. Delgado said he told convoy officers that they could not pass, and they left. But hours later, he said, the convoy returned, this time shooting at the indigenous group blocking the streets.Mr. Delgado said he told convoy officers that they could not pass, and they left. But hours later, he said, the convoy returned, this time shooting at the indigenous group blocking the streets.
“I was sleeping and the shooting woke me up,” he said.“I was sleeping and the shooting woke me up,” he said.
In videos posted on Friday from Santa Elena de Uairén, a border crossing town in the Gran Sabana region, dozens of military police holding shields could be seen blocking the roadway. A small crowd of protesters gathered, singing Venezuela’s national anthem and chanting, “They are killing us with hunger.” After the deadly confrontation Friday morning, indigenous leaders seized Gen. José Miguel Montoya Ramirez, the head of Bolívar State’s National Guard force, and some of his subordinates, two opposition lawmakers from the area said in interviews.
The political opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly who declared himself president last month, has vowed to forcibly bring in aid this weekend. The lawmakers, Olivia Lozano and Américo de Grazia, said it was unclear how long the indigenous leaders intended to hold the captives. The lawmakers said the indigenous leaders were trying to ensure security forces would not block the entry of aid.
He has the backing of foreign allies, led by the United States. Military officials did not confirm reports of the detention.
Mr. Maduro has said Venezuela is not a country of “beggars” and does not need the aid, and has called Mr. Guaidó a stooge of the Trump administration. Whether events would proceed more peacefully or erupt into more violence on Saturday was anyone’s guess.
Attempting to portray his government as benevolent and generous, Mr. Maduro posted a video on his Twitter account Friday with scenes of ample medical supplies and earnest health care workers intently listening to his instructions. Opposition leaders said they planned to take on Mr. Maduro’s forces directly rather than smuggle in the aid through border routes used by contraband traffickers.
“We are making every effort to make the national public health system not stop and rise to the highest level in the world,” Mr. Maduro wrote. The main point of entry would be the Tienditas Bridge, where a shipment would pass surrounded by protesters who would join them from the Venezuelan side. Others would take smaller packages over pedestrian foot bridges.
But once-prosperous Venezuela is reeling from its worst economic crisis ever, with deep-seated hunger, shortages and hyperinflation that Mr. Maduro’s opponents have blamed on corruption and mismanagement. More than three million Venezuelans have fled in recent years. “We’ve faced tear gas before,” said Laurence Castro, an opposition lawmaker from Caracas.
The biggest potential flash point is the bridge at Cúcuta, Colombia, a major border crossing where the Venezuelan authorities have blocked the lanes with tanker trucks and fencing. The United States and other foreign powers have been stockpiling goods on the Colombian side of the bridge. In Venezuela, several thousand government supporters, mostly public workers, militias and pensioners, gathered on their side of the Tienditas bridge for a counter concert.
The run-up to a potential confrontation on the bridge, on Saturday, has been punctuated with theatrics. Organizers divided into groups and filed in lines facing the stage, a strategy used in the past by the ruling party to create the appearance of a continuous sea of people when seen from a particular angle.
Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur, helped organize a Latino pop concert held on Friday in Cúcuta, called Venezuela Aid Live, aimed at helping raise $100 million to “bring global attention to this unacceptable and preventable crisis.” “What aid are they talking about when they rob us of billions of dollars in sanctions?” said Gonzalo Ceballos, a retired schoolteacher and ruling party activist who came by bus from the city of San Cristóbal. “We’re congregating here to prevent an aggression that seeks to take control of Venezuela’s strategic resources.”
Mr. Guaidó, defying an international travel ban by the Venezuelan authorities after he proclaimed himself president last month, attended the concert and was photographed standing with the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay as fans cheered. Some said they came to the event in search of free food, traveling from as far as Caracas. One young couple with a child was reduced to begging on the outskirts of the event when they realized no food was being distributed.
It was unclear whether Mr. Maduro would order border authorities to prevent Mr. Guaidó from re-entering Venezuela or have him arrested if he sought to return. Among those who had traveled to the Colombian side of the border were a number of former Venezuelan military officers who have repudiated loyalty to Mr. Maduro. Some spoke openly about armed rebellion against Mr. Maduro.
Mr. Maduro’s government has plans to stage rival concerts over the weekend on the Venezuelan side of the border. “The eyes of the world are here,” said Carlos Guillén Martínez, an army lieutenant who fled the country last year and who has vowed to take up arms against Mr. Maduro.
International groups have warned that clashes at the border could have wide reaching effects. Jason Marczak, director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based policy research group, called it a “critical moment.” Others Venezuelans had come to Cúcuta hoping to take advantage of the activity around the concert to try to make ends meet. Mileidi Ramírez, 42, had come from Venezuela’s Merida state to sell candy at the concert in order to buy food back at home.
“Venezuela’s borders are a powder keg with sky-high tensions, meaning that any errant move could unleash a wave of violence,” he said. “The key question is who will blink first.” “I left my kids in Venezuela, I have nothing to eat,” she said.
Commenting on the reports of fatal shooting at the Brazilian border, Mr. Marczak said: “Any violence against innocent civilians seeking aid should be met by the full force of international law.”
Venezuelan opposition leaders and their allies in Brazil were scrambling on Friday to find trucks and drivers to transport 500 kits of food and medicine that they hope to get across the border on Saturday.
María Teresa Belandria, an opposition leader who serves as Mr. Guaidó’s envoy to Brazil, said in an interview that some of the drivers that they hoped to enlist for the plan had been held back by the armed forces in Venezuela. Others, who are already in Brazil, have been threatened by allies of Mr. Maduro with arrest, she said.
“It’s been very hard to line up the trucks,” said Ms. Belandria. “We’re coming up with a contingency plan.”
Ms. Belandria said she still planned to lead a convoy of trucks carrying aid that would leave early Saturday from the Brazilian city of Boa Vista, in northern Brazil, to Pacaraima, a border town roughly 130 miles north.
Brazilian police officials planned to escort the convoy until the border, where truck drivers would presumably attempt to cross. Ms. Belandria said that Venezuelan military vehicles had been positioned across the road to block the passage of vehicles and that security forces are forming a human shield.
“It is a very tense situation,” she said.
If the trucks managed to get across, the opposition planned to offload the cargo on the Venezuelan side so aid packages can reach nearby communities.
The amount of aid on hand would support the basic needs of about 2,000 people for a couple of months, Ms. Belandria said.
While that might seem small, even successfully transporting a token amount across the border is seen by opposition activists as a powerful symbol that could lead to a more robust aid effort by land, sea and air.
“If we manage to get aid through it will mean the armed forces have agreed to put themselves on the side of the Constitution,” Ms. Belandria said.